Welcome to TRINGENUITY, CBR's ongoing commentary of DC Comics' weekly superhero series, "Trinity." The title is divided into two features; the first focuses on Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, while the second feature portrays background or tangential events that relate to the ongoing lead storyline. "Trinity" is a weekly series that is promised to be epic in scale and help define the trio of heroes' mythical place in the DC Universe.

PREVIOUSLY

The lead feature began with Krona in deep space. The godlike being contemplated the nature of his existence and of other cosmic consciousnesses. In another sector of space, Despero and the Crime Syndicate were on their way to Earth. The villains encountered the Green Lanterns and defeated them handedly. Finally, on Earth, in the city of Metropolis, the Trinity had their showdown with the Troika. Calling upon the power of their arcana, the Trinity defeated the Troika and reversed the chaos that had gripped the region. Despite this victory, the trio announced that the battle had only started.

With access to the past and the present, Krona met with a much younger version of himself. Studying his counterpart, as well as similar counterparts across the multiverse, Krona tried to teach himself patience, having recognized that his downfall was often brought about though brash reaction to situations. But even as Krona tried to teach himself those lessons, the Void Hound did not share those same ideals, escaping and fleeing into the cosmos.

TRINITY #41

The Troika and the Trinity face off in the reclaimed city of Metropolis. As the Trinity demands surrender, the Troika fall into disagreement -- Morgaine demands the two groups battle, but Enigma suggests a withdrawal is in order. The matter is settled when Xor/Konvikt strikes Morgaine, rendering her unconscious. As the Troika desert their arcana, the JSI descend upon the remaining villains. With this victory, the universe begins to slowly correct the changes wrought by the Troika. The world begins to become more like the one we remember. As the feature ends, Cheetah and the Joker leave for cities of their own to claim, and Lex Luthor discovers a means of controlling reality itself.

Deep in the cosmos, the Void Hound hunts new prey, tracking down smugglers with the combined power of Qwardian Weaponeers and Green Lantern John Stewart. As Stewart struggles for dominance over the anti-matter being, itself wrought by the Qwardians and their mythology, the Hound relates its history as one of the most dangerous beings in the Anti-Matter Universe. Reasserting its own dominance thanks to help from Krona, the Hound agrees to work with the cosmic villain to track down life in the universe. However, unbeknownst to the Hound and to Krona, Stewart’s power ring has sent an emergency beacon out into space.

COMMENTARY

Brian Eason: The lead was all Trinity and Troika.

Justin Eger: More Trinity than Troika, though, since the baddies bail out pretty fast to regroup.

Confronted by new heroes, the Troika considers retreat

BE: Enigma and Xor turn on Morgaine, at least for the moment.

JE: Well, she was getting them into a dangerous place, pitting them against enemies that were just as powerful as themselves.

BE: Her combination of ego and insanity are the biggest threat to the Troika.

JE: Especially when she's the only one with an eye towards global domination. The others have less evil agendas.

BE: With the Troika gone, their arcana are much less of a threat.

JE: I think the reason for that is twofold. On the one hand, they're leaderless. On the other, they also fall victim to their own petty desires and run out on their companions.

JE: Even as heroes return to their true forms, reality is reasserting itself, and the heroes that should be dead are getting taken down.

BE: I can imagine that Cheetah is headed to Washington and Joker is headed to Gotham.

JE: Seems most logical, and they fall prey to their own desires, as we discussed earlier.

BE: It seems that the Trinity will tolerate no more violence after their Godswar.

JE: I would imagine that they've seen enough to last a lifetime, but it's naive to think that, by simple command, the fighting will cease permanently.

BE: Yet they seem to assume that, as Gods, it will be.

JE: An interesting point, especially considering that Hawkman just assumes they'll stick around and team up with the JSI.

BE: Off they head to Washington and Gotham.

JE: To reclaim the "territories" of Wonder Woman and Batman.

BE: And Luthor may have figured out how to alter reality.

JE: That was some bad news, right there. Giving Luthor a chance to sample chaos energy and his previous conversation with Joker and Cheetah seems to have given him new purpose.

BE: And the trinity of Cheetah, Joker, and Luthor give us another twist.

JE: Especially of Luthor powers himself up in the coming issues. So, what did you think of the history of John Stewart's alter ego. I was surprised.

BE: Yes, the story of the Void Hound was almost surreal.

JE: Told from the Void Hound's perspective, which was an interesting way to approach it.

BE: Primal and elemental.

JE: Very much so. Also very stunted in places, as if the Hound is only aware of what matters directly to it.

BE: We get the full origin and an explanation of who the Weaponeers of Qward are.

The history of the Void Hound

JE: It seems that the Void Hound came into being because of a legend among the Weaponeers.

BE: The Anti-Matter universe is playing a huge part in this series.

JE: It's a very fertile playground. There are a lot of routes you can go with characters like this. Personally, I was struck by the heretofore unrealized similarities between the Weaponeers and the Thanagarians of our universe.

BE: As was I. I think this is interesting groundwork that Busiek is laying.

JE: He's got a good partner in Fabian Nicieza. Both men have a knack for exploring histories of characters.